Neckwear with a pocket

ABSTRACT

At least one pocket may be integrated into, coupled to, or otherwise provided by any suitable neckwear, where the pocket may enable the wearer of the neckwear to securely hold objects in the pocket during use of the neckwear.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of prior filed U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/133,695, filed Mar. 16, 2015, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to neckwear with a pocket and, moreparticularly, to neckwear with a pocket that enables the wearer of theneckwear to securely hold objects during use of the neckwear.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Oftentimes, a person uses a purse to carry around personal effects orother suitable items (e.g., a wallet, portable electronic device, keys,etc.) when that person's outfit does not provide suitable pockets forsuch use (e.g., when a user is wearing a dress or pajamas or tightpants). This can prove troublesome as a purse is often cumbersome oreasily misplaced.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

This document describes neckwear with a pocket and methods for using thesame.

For example, neckwear to be worn on a neck of a user may include astructure extending between a first free end and a second free end, anda pocket at least partially coupled to the structure and operative tohold an object, wherein the first free end is operative to be coupled tothe second free end to form a loop with the structure for surroundingthe neck, and wherein an opening to a pouch of the pocket faces one oftowards the neck of the user and away from the neck of the user when theloop surrounds the neck.

This Summary is provided merely to summarize some example embodiments,so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subjectmatter described in this document. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat the features described in this Summary are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Unless otherwise stated, featuresdescribed in the context of one example may be combined or used withfeatures described in the context of one or more other examples. Otherfeatures, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described hereinwill become apparent from the following Detailed Description, Figures,and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The discussion below makes reference to the following drawings, in whichlike reference characters may refer to like parts throughout, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a front view of neckwear with a pocket closed;

FIG. 2 is a back view of the neckwear of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the neckwear of FIGS. 1 and 2 with thepocket closed;

FIG. 4 is a right side view of the neckwear of FIGS. 1-3 with the pocketclosed;

FIG. 5 is a top end view of the neckwear of FIGS. 1-4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom end view of the neckwear of FIGS. 1-5;

FIG. 7 is a back, left side, bottom end perspective view of the neckwearof FIGS. 1-6;

FIG. 8 is a front view of the pocket of the neckwear of FIGS. 1-7 in aclosed configuration;

FIG. 9 is a front perspective view of the pocket of the neckwear ofFIGS. 1-8 in a partially opened configuration;

FIG. 10 is a front view of a user wearing the neckwear of FIGS. 1-9 in afirst stage of use with the pocket opened;

FIG. 11 is a front view of a user wearing the neckwear of FIGS. 1-10 ina second stage of use with the pocket opened;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a user wearing the neckwear of FIGS. 1-11 ina third stage of use with the pocket opened;

FIG. 13 is a front view of a user wearing other neckwear in a firststage of use;

FIG. 14 is a front view of a user wearing the neckwear of FIG. 1-13 in asecond stage of use;

FIG. 15 is a front view of a user wearing yet other neckwear in a finalstage of use with a pocket closed;

FIG. 16 is a front view of other neckwear;

FIG. 17 is a back view of the neckwear of FIG. 16 with a pocket closed;

FIG. 18 is a left side view of the neckwear of FIGS. 16 and 17;

FIG. 19 is a right side view of the neckwear of FIGS. 16-18;

FIG. 20 is a top end view of the neckwear of FIGS. 16-19;

FIG. 21 is a bottom end view of the neckwear of FIGS. 16-20;

FIG. 22 is a front, left side, top end perspective view of the neckwearof FIGS. 16-21;

FIG. 23 is a front view of a user wearing the neckwear of FIGS. 16-22 ina first stage of use; and

FIG. 24 is a front view of a user wearing the neckwear of FIGS. 16-23 ina second stage of use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

An article of clothing worn on the neck of a user or neckwear (e.g.,scarf, necklace, purse, shawl, tie, boa, etc.) may include at least onepocket with an opening exposed on the outside or the inside of thearticle of clothing when worn by the user. The pocket may be configuredto hold at least a portion of a cellular telephone or any other suitableobject or collection of objects.

As shown in FIGS. 1-12, an article of clothing or neckwear 100 may be astructure of any suitable length extending between a first free end 110and a second free end 130, where a pocket 120 may be positioned at anysuitable position between free ends 110 and 130. Pocket 120 may beprovided on any suitable side of neckwear 100 extending between freeends 110 and 130, such as front side 140 (as shown) or an opposite backside 150 (not shown). Alternatively, pocket 120 may be accessible viaeach one of two openings, each of which may be accessible via adifferent one of sides 140 and 150 (not shown). Pocket 120 may be madeof a pouch distinct from the material of each side of neckwear 100(e.g., a pouch positioned between sides 140 and 150 of neckwear 100).Alternatively, an interior surface of one or both sides 140 and 150 ofneckwear 100 may provide at least a portion of pocket 120. In someembodiments, free ends 110 and 130 or any other two suitable portions ofneckwear 100 may be coupled to one another to form an “infinite” articleor loop, such as a single loop or a Mobius strip, or any other suitablyshaped article, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The two portions ofneckwear 100 may be coupled in any suitable fashion using reciprocalcoupling features 112 (e.g., at end 110) and 132 (e.g., at end 130) thatmay be coupled together to form the loop. Such coupling features 112 and132 may include any suitable coupling features including, but notlimited to, one or more buttons or snaps or magnets (e.g., as shown inFIGS. 1-12), zippers (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 16-24 with respect tofeatures 412 and 432 at ends 410 and 430 of neckwear 400), hook andloops (e.g., Velcro), flaps, combinations thereof, and the like.

In some embodiments, the length of neckwear 100 may be configured toenable neckwear 100 to be wrapped around the neck 99 of a user anysuitable amount of times, such as 1 time (see, e.g., FIG. 11), 2 times(see, e.g., FIG. 12), 3 times, or any other suitable number or fractionof number of times, when either forming a loop or a single length withtwo free ends. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-12, neckwear 100 mayinclude two free ends 110 and 130 with respective coupling features 112and 132 (e.g., snaps) on each end that may enable the two ends to becoupled together (e.g., releasably coupled by a user) to form anysuitable loop, which may be worn about neck 99 of the user, such as in asingle loop (e.g., as shown in FIG. 11) or multiple loops (e.g., asshown in FIG. 12). Pocket 120 may be accessible from the outside of theloop (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) at an outer surface exposed tothe environment and/or visible to persons adjacent to the user wearingneckwear 100 (e.g., an opening to a pouch of the pocket may face awayfrom neck 99) or from the inside of the loop at an inner surface notexposed to the environment and/or visible to persons adjacent to theuser wearing neckwear 100 (not shown in FIGS. 1-12 but may be shown byneckwear 200 of FIG. 13 and/or neckwear 400 of FIG. 23 and/or FIG. 24where pocket 420 may be provided on back surface 450 rather than frontsurface 440) (e.g., an opening to a pouch of the pocket may face towardsand/or contact neck 99), which may depend on whether the portion of theneckwear with the pocket opening is folded inwardly or outwardly withrespect to neck 99 of the user. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG.17, neckwear 400 may include a hole or passageway or opening 425 thatmay extend between a pouch of pocket 420 and the exterior of neckwear400, where opening 425 may enable a certain portion of an objectpositioned within the pouch to be accessible from outside the pouch whenthe pocket is closed. For example, opening 425 may be used for feeding aheadphone cable through 425 such that earbuds at one end of theheadphone cable may be worn by the user while the connector at the otherend of the headphone cable may be electrically coupled to a portablemedia player that may be at least partially positioned within the pouchof pocket 420.

FIGS. 9-12 may show pocket 120 in an open configuration with no objectstherein, while FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 8 may show pocket 120 in a closedconfiguration with or without an object (e.g., a cellular telephone)positioned at least partially within the pouch of pocket 120. Pocket 120may be closed using any suitable pocket closing features 122 in anysuitable fashion, including, but not limited to, one or more buttons orsnaps or magnets (e.g., as shown), zippers (e.g., as shown with respectto features 322 of pocket 320 of neckwear 300 of FIG. 15 and/or features422 of pocket 420 of neckwear 400 of FIG. 17), hook and loops (e.g.,Velcro), flaps, combinations thereof, and the like. Alternatively, theopening to a pouch of a pocket may be expandable and collapsible usingany suitable elastic features (e.g., as shown with respect to features222 of pocket 220 of neckwear 200 of FIG. 14) and/or otherwise.

In some embodiments, the article of clothing may be configured toconceal or otherwise hide the opening of the pocket or the entirepocket. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, when worn by neck 99 of auser, a material of neckwear 200 (e.g., a fluffy or loose materialadjacent an opening of pocket 220) may be operative to hide the pocketopening of pocket 220 and/or an object positioned therein. In someembodiments, a flap may be turned down or otherwise folded over anotherportion of the neckwear that may include the opening of the pocket orthat may include any other portion or the entirety of the pocket (e.g.,when the pocket is empty and/or when one or more objects are positionedin the pocket).

The article of clothing may be made of any suitable material orcombination of materials including, but not limited to, polyester,cotton, cashmere, yarn, wool, leather, combinations thereof, and thelike. One side of the article may be made of a first material while asecond side of the article may be made of a second material. The articleof clothing may be made in any suitable size, shape, color, pattern, orstyle for any suitable user (e.g., human men, human women, humanchildren, pets, dolls, etc.). In some embodiments, the material and/orcolor of the article of clothing may hide or otherwise conceal orotherwise make the pocket difficult to discern by a human eye. Thepocket and/or coupling elements of one or more free ends of the articlemay be at least partially made of a different material than at least aportion of the remainder of the article (e.g., the pocket may be atleast partially made of leather while the majority of the remainder ofthe article of clothing may be made of cotton or cashmere or wool).

While there has been described neckwear with at least one pocket, it isto be understood that many changes may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein in anyway. Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed bya person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, areexpressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of theclaims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one withordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of thedefined elements.

Therefore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the previousdescription of the disclosed examples can be practiced by other than thedescribed embodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustrationrather than of limitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. Neckwear to be worn on a neck of a usercomprising: a structure extending between a first free end and a secondfree end; and a pocket at least partially coupled to the structure andoperative to hold an object, wherein: the first free end is operative tobe coupled to the second free end to form a loop with the structure forsurrounding the neck; and an opening to a pouch of the pocket faces oneof towards the neck of the user and away from the neck of the user whenthe loop surrounds the neck.
 2. The neckwear of claim 1, wherein thestructure is a scarf.
 3. The neckwear of claim 1, further comprising: afirst coupling mechanism at the first free end; and a second couplingmechanism at the second free end operative to be coupled to the firstcoupling mechanism to form the loop.
 4. The neckwear of claim 3, whereinthe first coupling mechanism and the second coupling mechanism comprisesnaps.
 5. The neckwear of claim 3, wherein the first coupling mechanismand the second coupling mechanism comprise buttons.
 6. The neckwear ofclaim 3, wherein the first coupling mechanism and the second couplingmechanism comprise zippers.
 7. The neckwear of claim 3, wherein thefirst coupling mechanism and the second coupling mechanism comprisehooks and loops.
 8. The neckwear of claim 1, further comprising: a firstcoupling mechanism at a first portion of the pocket; and a secondcoupling mechanism at a second portion of the pocket operative to becoupled to the first coupling mechanism to close the opening to thepouch of the pocket.
 9. The neckwear of claim 8, wherein the firstcoupling mechanism and the second coupling mechanism comprise snaps. 10.The neckwear of claim 8, wherein the first coupling mechanism and thesecond coupling mechanism comprise buttons.
 11. The neckwear of claim 8,wherein the first coupling mechanism and the second coupling mechanismcomprise zippers.
 12. The neckwear of claim 8, wherein the firstcoupling mechanism and the second coupling mechanism comprise hooks andloops.
 13. The neckwear of claim 1, wherein the opening to the pouch ofthe pocket faces towards the neck of the user when the loop surroundsthe neck.
 14. The neckwear of claim 1, wherein the opening to the pouchof the pocket faces away from the neck of the user when the loopsurrounds the neck.
 15. The neckwear of claim 1, wherein the loopsurrounds the neck multiple times.